1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to a hospital gown having front and rear openings and improved access to a patient's body while providing sufficient coverage.
2. Description of the Related Art
Standard hospital gowns or patient gowns are typically designed to provide access to a patient's body at the front or back, and generally consist of a cloth or fabric panel which wraps around the patient's body and joins at the front or back of the patient, forming a slit or opening at the front or back of the patient's body. While the design provides for improved access by physicians or attending assistants, tubing or other medical apparatus, etc., it also carries certain drawbacks. For example, the patient's privacy and dignity are oftentimes compromised as a result of poor closure at the front or back. The panel is oftentimes joined at the back (or front) by one or more string ties, which may easily become undone and/or fail to maintain the opening or slit closed along the length thereof. Accordingly, a gap tends to form along the area where the edges of the panel join or where the slit or opening is located, revealing the patient's body underneath. Oftentimes, the patient must resort to holding the edges of the panel together to close the gap. This sort of exposure may be a source of embarrassment and humiliation for a patient, especially when the patient may already be undergoing a difficult and/or traumatic experience.
Although it is desirable that a hospital gown provide sufficient coverage of the patient's body, it is also important for the gown to provide sufficient, convenient, and quick and easy access to the patient's body for purposes of medical examination, insertion of tubing or other apparatus, ease of wear, and ease of removal, among other things. It is also desirable for the hospital gown to allow convenient access at both the front and back without necessitating removal of the entire gown or of the entire top portion of the gown.
Therefore, a need exists in the art for a hospital gown that is easy to put on and take off, is comfortable to wear, provides sufficient coverage and privacy for the wearer, and still allows convenient and quick access to the patient's body.